F*ck presentations, lead conversations
Somebody asked you to give a talk. How do you feel about it? How can you make the presentation memorable and useful? No I don’t want to reinvent the wheel. Instead of this, you will find here the collection of best advice I’ve gathered so far. They all sum up in one sentence: don’t give a presentation but start a conversation.
Tell the story, not the slides
We all love stories. But stop… what’s a story? Don’t tell me this cliché about the beginning, middle and end!
A story tells a struggle of a hero fighting an obstacle to achieve a goal.
Sounds interesting? Listen to the whole episode, you won’t regret.
Make your audience care. Make them do the work with you, make them put things together. Good talk is a collaborative effort. Keep it in mind while designing the story.
The audience actually wants to work for their meal!
Bullets are a real weapon
Have you ever wondered why bullet points are called like that? They simply kill your presentation. You can do it better, don’t lead a war with your audience. Your talk doesn’t have to have slides at all. Success doesn’t depend on Keynote or Power Point, but the way you use it may spoil it all. The slides are helpful only when created for the audience not for a speaker.
Don’t allow technology to kill your story. The slides are the props for your talk. Make them know their place in a row.
Make numbers meaningful
A number without a context simply doesn’t add up. Do I care about 11%? Well, it all depends… 11% of population… of the world, France, or a village where you have 100 people in total. Compare, provide context, don’t assume everybody knows what you mean and knows how it influences their world.
You can build the whole presentation on numbers and get a standing ovation after 5-minute talk. Make your numbers self-explanatory, connect the dots, make these connections visible.
Here’s the link to tedPAD Sebastian mentions, you’re welcome :)
Let’s face it — the talk is a show
Remember that the way you look, move, and speak communicates more than slides. Steve Jobs was a guru in presentation. My favorite talk he gave is the one at Stanford.
Take care of the way you verbalize your thoughts. Don’t be a lazy talker. Prepare your voice to a show. Don’t resign from giving a talk just because you are an introvert. Prepare for the conversation. It’s offline, use your muscles to make your thoughts memorable.
It’s a conversation, not a monologue
We get freakin’ scared of QAs. The answer is be yourself, you don’t have to be walking Google. Zach Holman puts it nicely explaining how to face QA like a pro.
Each topic you feel passionate about is awesome to share. Whether it’s great new tech product, the project you’ve worked on, or classical music. Make your heart speak for you!
Hopefully you learned something new, but remember — the best way to master something is actually by doing it. I wish you many great conversations!
If you believe the article was useful, have a look at other articles I wrote. You can also meet me on twitter.
